National's Education spokesperson Gerry Brownlee is questioning how the $20 million of property funding was allocated after 13% of the fund went to Avondale College, in the Prime Minister's electorate, who already have fabulous facilities.

"When a school's own principal is questioning the logic of the allocation of the money because his school has 'some of the best facilities in the country' and he doesn't even know 'in which aspect of the new national standard his school was deficient', some serious explaining needs to be done.

"The Prime Minister seems to think Avondale College needs 13% of the fund saying the money for the college 'reflected the importance the Government placed on bringing every school to a new property standard'.

"Hundreds of schools around the country that look like the poor cousins to Avondale College are asking when will the Prime Minister place the same importance on them?

"The Minister needs to explain how this inequity happened. The decision to give a $2.6 million property fund handout to the stunning Avondale campus makes a joke of the funding formula.

"The funding formula for the secondary school property guide is so out of step with the real needs of New Zealand's secondary schools one has to question what's going on in the Beehive," Mr Brownlee said.

Ends

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>